


Working from Home

by sanctum_c



Series: Aerith Month 2018 [25]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cats, Gen, Home, Snacks & Snack Food, Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Working from home takes some getting used to.
Series: Aerith Month 2018 [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009521
Kudos: 3





	Working from Home

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Number I](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11203020) by [Nautilusopus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nautilusopus/pseuds/Nautilusopus). 



> Written for the prompt 'Favorite Moment'. This is set sometime prior to The Number I by Nautilusopus - who also suggested Liquorice Allsorts as Aeris's favorite snack.

The working day was a familiar routine. Aeris would set her alarm for seven and bat the clock to silent after a frantic scrabble to shut the thing up. A few minutes later she would wake in a panic and actually set the alarm for ten minutes’ time. After those ten minutes she would set it for another ten minutes. Then another, and another, until - with less than an optimal time remaining - she dragged herself into a sitting position. This movement tended to disrupt Cassiopeia who chose that exact moment to suddenly become more affectionate and settle onto her legs. Another delay since Cassiopeia was adamant Aeris should ruffle her fur for a few minutes. Cat fussed and nudged off her legs, Aeris was able to go downstairs.

Breakfast was toast and coffee. A quick shower after and she was out the door with her hair still wet. About an hour to get to work, four hours to lunch, another four or so until the end of the day, another hour to get back home then dinner. A short opportunity to do something (usually little beyond a catch up on recent papers and journals) then actually get to bed far too early in the morning, sleep and do the same all over again the next day.

Today was different. Today she was working from home for the first time; the realisation had taken effect in stages. Getting to bed the previous night had been even more delayed than normal (no need to be in bed early since she did not have to run for the train) - and she was a lot slower getting up the next morning. Less of a need to rush today. No need to race to the shower. Aeris lounged in bed even as the cat hinted with increasing insistence that Aeris should march downstairs and put some food in her bowl right this second. Aeris relented in the end and wandered down to the ground floor. The day felt somewhat odd. She was not late yet even now at eight-fifteen; they would expect her online by nine, though there was some lee-way with that.

Cassiopeia ravenously ate her food as Aeris idled in the kitchen. Toast as usual? If the eggs were still good she could have something more substantial for breakfast. The fridge revealed a tragic lack of bacon or sausages; their absence hampered the fledgling idea of a fry-up. Scrambled or fried eggs remained plausible though. Or- She pulled open the freezer. More time; how about pizza for breakfast. No. That was clearly madness. Wasn't it?

"People eat cold pizza for breakfast all the time," she said to Cassiopeia who gave her a look before resuming her slurping consumption of her own food. "Is there some reason why hot pizza for the same meal is somehow wrong?"

Cassiopeia declined to comment on the seeming double-standard. Aside from waiting for the frozen pizza to cook (something easily side-stepped by showering while the oven heated up or while the pizza cooked), there was no real reason why pizza for breakfast was a bad idea. Other (sensible) people might object; Mum, Dad, co-workers. But none of them were here. She sighed. Mum and Dad. A mistake to think of them again - but often hard not to given her work. Aeris pushed some bread in the toaster. Pizza next time. Or possibly she could go all out with some more exotic meals. It made sense to eat big meals at the start of the day, right? A curry might work-

Aeris shook herself. Working from home seemed to come with some unforseen and weird risks. Probably not conducive to a good work ethic. Stick to her routine - even if she had diverged off of it already. She was a full hour out of sync when she seated herself at the desk and powered her laptop on. First wireless, then VPN, then- Everything was a little slower, a little more awkward than working at the lab. Here she was stuck with a smaller keyboard and a smaller screen. The number pad was soon missed, Aeris’s fingers reaching for non-existent keys. Might be an idea to unplug the peripherals from the desktop and wire them in for something approaching the same capacity as work.

Maybe after lunch. For now; she needed to do something resembling work. Email was a good start. About an hour and a half later, her stomach gurgled. What new absurdity was this? She had only just had breakfast. But the kitchen was a short walk - closer than the vending machines or the canteen at work. Plus nothing here would cost her a penny - well, a penny more than she had already spent on shopping. But if she consumed something now that would mean she would need to buy more later and- Aeris shook her head. No. It would save money. She never remembered to keep any change with her and then had to get money from a cash point and break the note and all the loose change either wound up in a whisky box or lost in the sofa- Another gurgle from her mid-section. "Stop it," she told her stomach.

A faint hollowness now. There was no specifically good reason for not getting something else to eat. She was hungry; why avoid satisfying her cravings? Maybe if she had stuck to her routine she wouldn't be feeling hungry now. Maybe?

Cassiopeia wandered back and forth on the work surfaces yowling in some new and terrible hunger while Aeris surveyed the room; what could she snack on? If only her thoughts did not keep turning to pizza and curry. Maybe crisps? Crisps - an excellent break-time snack. An hour after starting work. Her stomach gurgled again; guilt was not working. Crisps then.

Lifting the multipack down revealed something else; a box of Liquourice Allsorts stuffed right at the back of the cupboard. How long had they been there? The sweets came under a personal heading of frivolous snack food; mostly because once she started eating them she often did not stop. An oddly advantageous snack when it came to sharing however; no one else seemed to like them for some reason. Aeris put the crisps back and opened the box. She paused at the kitchen door. No, she could not just eat all of them. Take some now to snack on and maybe have some more with lunch. And an afternoon snack. And for dessert later.

She emptied a good number of the Allsorts into a bowl and carried them back to her desk. When she felt hungry, she would take another sweet from the bowl while she responded to emails. Email checked; take a sweet. Checking over experimental data deserved another sweet. Ignoring Cassiopeia’s new proclamation of starvation? Another sweet- Her fingers hit porcelain. Aeris blinked. The bowl was empty. It was eleven-thirty. Not that long until lunch. Aeris frowned. Somehow not a factor she considered before. Pizza sounded far more like a lunch kind of thing. People didn't judge over pizza for lunch did they? She carried on working, but still periodically reached out for the empty bowl and disappointment. Another few minutes of that and she conceded defeat; she retrieved a new bowl-full of Allsorts from the kitchen.

Okay. Now she would crack on until lunch. Thirty second later, Cassiopeia decided her latop was an excellent place to sit and stare right at her. "You are not making this easy," Aeris told the cat. Cassiopeia stared back unfazed. She would look for an empty box during lunch - otherwise today might end up being longer and less productive than normal.


End file.
